After earning her bronze and silver Girl Scout awards last year, Danielle Brodeur decided, in the spirit of dressing up, to go for the gold.

“I decided to go for it, because not many girls do,” said Brodeur, a 16-year-old junior at the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, “and that’s when I came up with the idea for Project Dress Up.”

Brodeur’s Project Dress Up, a donation-based effort, will benefit local girls who can’t afford to splurge on a new a dress this prom season.

“You go to school dances and see that some girls aren’t there,” Brodeur said. “And you hear from other people that they don’t go only because they can’t afford a dress.”

From Brodeur’s explanation, it is clear the prom dress, usually worn for just one evening but costing hundreds of dollars, can keep some girls from a rite of passage they wish they could be a part of.

Brodeur said she hopes to counter that issue by providing a dress to any high school girl in need.

“I’m having an event on April 10 at St. Nicholas of Myra and anyone who shows up can take a dress, no questions asked,” Brodeur said.

Brodeur has already collected more than 90 dresses of various sizes and styles. Each dress has been dry cleaned and repaired, compliments of Dermody Cleaners on 34 Cohannet St. in Taunton.

“The first set of dresses had some broken zippers, and they replaced them for free too,” Brodeur said.

Brodeur said there may be a chance that some dresses are left over, and if they are, she will send them to “Gifts to Give,” a donation warehouse in New Bedford.

Although dress donations have been plentiful thus far, Brodeur hopes her April 10th Project Dress Up party will be a success as well.

“I think it might be hard for some girls to come to the event,” Brodeur said, “but they probably want a dress more because prom’s coming up soon.”

Brodeur said she is also contacting beauty boutiques in the Greater Taunton area for donations.

“I wanted to reach out to businesses about things girls my age would do to get ready for prom,” she said. “They need the dress, but some girls like to go tanning and get their hair and nails done too.”

“I’m going the whole nine yards because I want to give every girl at least a chance to get something nice out of this,” Brodeur said.